


The Infamous Tanya Jo

by thebearsays



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 16:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8216447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebearsays/pseuds/thebearsays
Summary: Tanya Jo Tucker of Richland Creek, Tennessee, that is, barely fifteen and soon to be legendary in her own right. Hope y’all enjoy her adventures.





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue 

Denver, Colorado 

Tanya Jo Tucker comes awake in her bed, still aroused from another dream about Josh, and swings her bare feet onto the smooth hardwood floor.

But it's not her bed, not really, and for a long while she just sits there on the edge of it, staring down at her toes through a tangled brown curtain of hair.

She doesn't belong here, no matter that she loves Jessi and Will and they love her right back, or that she has taken to the faster pace of life in Denver as if born to it.

Her heart belongs to the mountains back home in Tennessee, and to her younger brothers, and – God help her – even to Pa.

They're in Blaine now, and according to Billy Pa's doing better with his drinking and misses Tanya Jo something fierce.

"Heck, T.J.," he'd said last night on the phone, "he done fixed up the whole attic for you, with a bookcase an' air conditioning an' everything!"

"I reckon there's a bed, too, or does he 'spect me to sleep on the floor?"

She can almost hear her brother roll his eyes. "Course there is." Then after a long pause he says, "Look, Tanya Jo, I know Pa treated you awful bad them times, but he's changed. An' he wants you home."

"Ain't he still mad at me for ruinin' shit for him in Richland Creek?"

"Not no more. He reckons he brung that on himself."

"For real?"

"Yup. An' believe it or not, he's even cussin' less."

_Well, damn._

They'd talked the better part of an hour, and then right before disconnecting Billy said, "Just so you know, T.J., me an' Georgie want you home, too."

Tanya Jo had choked on a sob, then lain awake most of the night with tears soaking her pillow.

And now, sitting on the bed with her hair in her face and her nipples still hard from her dream, she knows what she needs to do.

Chapter 1 

Richland Creek, Tennessee 

_Three months earlier._

"We should take the truck, Pa," she says hopefully, perched on the closed commode while Pa finishes his shave. "The boys an' me can ride in the back."

Donnie Tucker considers this, then shakes his head. "Truck's too new-lookin'," he tells her, and Tanya Jo rolls her blue eyes at him.

"You mean it ain't pathetic enough to fool anyone into feeling sorry for us," she retorts. "Now hurry up an' get so I can hop in the shower real quick."

He gives her an appraising look as she stands and starts hustling him out. "Don't wash your hair. And wear a dress."

"Pa, I got no nice shoes to go with a dress. And my hair reeks from cooking all morning."

"So let it reek. Jessi will see how much help I need with you."

She flushes, and all at once fourteen months of hurt pours out of her in a rush.

"You need help with _me_? Since when? I cook for you, I keep the house nice for you, and when Ma first died it was me who helped the boys get through it while you drank yourself stupid. But hey, you ever want me to be less of a goddamn _burden_ to you, please let me know!"

And with that, she shoves him out into the hall and slams the bathroom door in his face.

* * *

In her room after a sponge bath, Tanya Jo slipa into her favorite dress, a barely-there blue mini with a low neckline and spaghetti straps that tend to fall naughtily off her shoulders. Then she brushes out her greasy hair, paints her toenails purple and saunters into the kitchen barefooted.

"Ain't y'all ready yet?"

Her milkaholic brothers – Georgie, who's eight, and Billy, who's twelve – grin around white mustaches when they see her.

"Hi, Tanya Jo!" they call out in unison.

"Hey, guys," she says, smiling as she goes over to muss each boy's hair.

Pa scowls at her. "You wearin' that skimpy rag again? Jesus Christ, girl, the Scanlans'll think you're some jailbait whore, flauntin' her pointy little tits so she can get laid."

For the second time that evening Tanya Jo feels herself flush hot over some hurtful thing Pa said, and this time she's had more than enough.

"Not flaunting anything, Pa, just tryin' to look pretty, but y'know what? If I _was_ a whore, you couldn't afford me!"

Ignoring her brothers' shock and Pa's murderous glare, she spins on her heel and walks out.

* * *

The ride up the mountain is mostly silent, with the boys napping in the back seat and Tanya Jo stonily ignoring Pa's few surly attempts at conversation.

Then, as they arrive at the Scanlan place, Donnie turns off the ignition and looks at her.

"You gonna behave in there, or should I leave your skinny ass in the car?"

"I'll behave if you will."

She slips her feet into a pair of flip-flops she'd left in the car a while back, and after getting her brothers awake and unbuckled, they follow Pa toward the house.

"Y'all be good for me in there, hear?" she orders them. "And don't say nothin' about Pa an' me havin' words."

"We won't," Billy promises. "But why was he so mad at you?"

"Pa's always mad at me," she says, and then they're inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Her first thought upon meeting Jessi Scanlan is that she is too young for Pa, and too nice besides.

"I'm Tanya Jo Tucker," she says shyly, and Jessi's eyebrows go up.

"I'm Jessi. And you're younger than I thought, Miss Tucker."

The girl grins. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"She's fifteen," Donnie puts in, just like somebody'd asked him, and Tanya Jo rolls her eyes.

Jessi winks at her, and in that moment Tanya Jo knows she has made a friend, even if – as she suspects – her father will go home from here as miserable and lonely as he arrived.

Then Jessi's _real_ beau – a former Knoxville police officer – shows up with flowers in hand, and Tanya Jo smiles to herself, her suspicion confirmed.

She likes Will Kendall instantly, but besides Jessi, no other adult in the Scanlan house shares her view.

Will glances at her briefly, then looks away, and Tanya Jo – who rarely notices such things – sees the same despair in his eyes that Jessi had first noted upon meeting him.

 _He looks so sad,_ she thinks, feeling a sudden fierce urge to comfort him with a hug.

Surprised – and more than a bit mortified – by the intensity of this feeling, Tanya Jo ducks her head to hide the blush on her cheeks.

Then she hears her name as Jessi volunteers her to help serve the food.

So she does, and the meal progresses in a series of vignettes in her mind, from the amusing to the infuriating to the heartbreaking:

_Billy and Georgie trying to outdo each other for Will Kendall's attention; the annoying way Pa has of calling her youngest brother Poot, a nickname that sets her teeth on edge; her observation that Robert Scanlan is a lot like Pa, not as mean but just as clueless; the way one of Jessi's older brothers finally stood up for her and all but told Donnie to go home if he didn't like Jessi's choice of steak fajitas for the main course; and Jessi herself, so brave in standing up to them all._

Then comes the moment when Tanya Jo, for the first time in her young life, feels such a cold hatred for her father it leaves her shaking.

(It will happen again later when they get home, but of course neither of them knows it yet.)

For now it is bad enough for her, seeing the smirk on Pa's face as he all but accuses Will Kendall of deserting his wife and little girl.

 _You don't know that, Pa,_ she thinks, and when Jessi tells them all the truth – that the man's family died in a home invasion that he himself barely survived – Tanya Jo's heart shatters in her chest.

_No wonder he ain't a cop no more._

Pa offers a half-assed apology, but the damage is done and she spends the rest of the dinner glaring at him through her unwashed hair.

The evening drags on, her younger brothers do their innocent best to lighten the mood, and when Billy seems about to make Georgie cry, Tanya Jo punches his arm maybe a bit harder than she intended to.

Then the food is almost gone and Jessi beckons her into the kitchen.

"Here you go, honey," she says, handing her a bag of wrapped leftovers. "I thought you could use a break on the cooking."

"Thank you," Tanya Jo says softly, the unexpected kindness making her want to cry. "I don't mind cookin' so much, but I'm not real good at it."

Jessi smiles and musses her hair. "Neither was I, back when my own mama died, but I figured it out."

"So you reckon I will too?"

Jessi grins. "I'm sure of it, honey."

"Oh, I hope so," Tanya Jo says fervently. "It gets godawful tirin', hearing Pa bitch all the time." Then she glances shyly at Will, who's been standing at the sink all along washing dishes.

"Hey, mister."

He turns to look at her, his expression guarded.

"It was real nice meetin' you," she tells him, her eyes steady on his. "An' I'm right sorry 'bout your family dyin'."

Will smiles, the guarded look gone. "It was nice to meet you, too," he says, and Tanya Jo can tell he means it.

He starts to say more, but Pa comes in right then looking for her. "Hurry your ass up, girl. It's gettin' late." Then he mumbles a thank you at Jessi, apologizes again to Will, and looks hard at his daughter.

"Don't be long," he says gruffly, then turns and heads back out to the car.

Tanya Jo sighs, her good mood gone. "Guess I better follow Pa," she says, and starts to do just that when Jessi's touch on her arm stops her.

"Honey, wait. There's something else I'd like you to have." With that Jessi hurries from the room, leaving Will and Tanya Jo to stare at each other.

Finally the girl says, "I want to thank y'all again for the meal." She looks at the leftovers she's holding and sighs again. "Both of 'em."

Will puts up his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. Jessi did all the work."

"But you helped!"

"So did you," he reminds her ruefully. "But _my_ help was somewhat less appreciated by the other men present."

Her fierce look tells him just what those other men can do with their appreciation, but when she starts to voice the thought Will puts a finger to her lips.

"Shhh. Someone besides me might hear you."

Tanya Jo blushes, remembering almost too late that she is a guest in this house, and then she gives Will a sheepish grin.

"So, you reckon I should keep _that_ opinion to myself, huh?"

Will returns her grin. "No ma'am. But why antagonize the enemy on their own turf?"

Jessi re-enters the kitchen in time to hear part of their exchange and looks at Tanya Jo, who still seems a bit sheepish as she stares down at her toes.

"Sweetheart," Jessi says with a grin of her own, "someday you gotta let me know whatever it was Mr. Kendall here just stopped you from saying."

"It woulda been really rude," Tanya Jo warns her.

Jessi's grin widens. "So much the better. Did it involve certain male members of my family?"

The younger girl nods. "And a member of mine, too."

"So tell me."

Tanya Jo ponders on it briefly, says "Here," as she volunteers Will to hold her sack of leftovers, then goes to Jessi and whispers something in her ear.

Jessi's eyes widen, she bites her lip to keep from laughing aloud, then reaches out to further muss Tanya Jo's hair.

"Honey, I knew there was a reason I liked you right off."

"I like you, too," the girl says. She points at the colorful box Jessi's been half-hiding behind her back. "What's that?"

"Oh, yeah. This is what I want to give you, and it's just for you. It's a Disney Bath and Body Gift Set."

Tanya Jo takes the box from her, and her face lights up when she sees what's in it: Bubble bath stuff, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, and a bottle of hand soap, all berry-scented.

Then, as she fingers a length of her long hair, the joy leaves her face as quickly as it came.

"What's the matter, honey?"

"Pa said not to wash my hair, an' now you think I'm dirty."

Forlorn blue eyes stare into hers, and Jessi's heart breaks. She impulsively pulls the trembling girl into a tight embrace, talking into her hair.

"Oh, lord no, sweetie, I don't think that, and I'm sorry I made _you_ think that, okay? You are _not_ dirty."

Tanya Jo pulls back slightly to look into Jessi's face.

"Why you givin' me this stuff, then?"

"Because," Jessi says quietly. "My own mama died when I was young like you, and I know what a messy job it can be, taking care of two rascally brothers and a grumpy-assed old man."

Their gazes meet and hold, and Tanya Jo knows she is truly blessed to have met Jessi Scanlan.

* * *

The drive home again passes in sullen silence, even the boys are subdued, and Tanya Jo sits slouched in the passenger seat, her flip flops kicked off and her bare feet up on the dash.

Lost in thought as she is, she doesn't see the seething glances Pa keeps throwing her way, or notice his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

"What's this?" Billy asks, pulling her Disney bath set out of the bag containing the leftovers.

"That's mine," she snaps. "Leave it alone."

"But what is it?"

"Just somethin' Jessi gave me, okay? Bubble bath an' like that."

"Girly stuff," her brother says, rolling his eyes in disgust.

"Surprised you accepted it," Pa tells her, "considerin' how the little bitch shamed us."

"Nobody shamed us, Pa. And Jessi ain't no bitch, neither."

"She is if I say she is, girl."

"Whatever," Tanya Jo mutters, returning her gaze to the scenery outside her window.

* * *

Donnie pulls into the carport next to the house, turns off the ignition, and tosses the keys at his oldest son in the back seat.

"Billy, you an' Poot head inside and get ready for bed. Take the food and Tanya Jo's crap with you an' leave it on the table." He gives his daughter an angry look. "Me an' her got some talkin' to do, then she'll come tuck y'all in."

"Okay, Pa," Billy says, then he and Georgie exit the car and go inside.

And Tanya Jo, watching them safely into the house, turns toward her father just as the back of his hand explodes against her face.

"What the hell, Pa!" she cries, her nose streaming blood and her eyes wide with shock.

"That was for talkin' back," he says, then twists his fingers cruelly in her hair and yanks her face-down across his lap. "An' this is for the way you kept lookin' at me at Bob Scanlan's place."

He pulls the hem of her dress up to expose her backside, each rise and fall of his calloused hand ending in a hard, vicious splat against her almost-naked ass and bare thighs.

"This'll learn you," he mutters, still hitting her, while Tanya Jo feels every blow, every strand of hair pulling at her scalp, and now, as she squirms to get loose of him she feels something else.

Her father feels it too, and flings her away from him so hard her body slams into the passenger door.

She glares at him through a wild tangle of hair, her dress straps down off her shoulders and her nose bleeding all over her partially-exposed chest.

"Fix your dress," Donnie mutters. "Your tits are near to showin'."

"Fuck my tits. And fuck you, too."

"Watch that shit, hey? That kinda talk is uncalled for."

"No, Pa. What you said to Mr. Kendall earlier about his wife and little girl, that was uncalled for." Her voice goes cold. "And so was what you just done to me."

"Already 'pologized to _him_ twice," Donnie says. "Ain't gonna 'pologize to you at all."

"Wasn't expecting you to, Pa, seein' as how you _enjoyed_ yourself an' all."

"What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"Nothin', 'cept while my tits were all squashed against your you-know-what I felt it movin'."

He glares at her, his face almost purple with rage. "Get out! You get out of this car _now_ , you evil little slut, or so help me I'll paddle your ass again!"

But she doesn't move, her eyes like cold blue ice as she looks back at him. Finally she says quietly, "Sure, Pa, I'll get out. I'll get out, an' I'll go tuck the boys in, same as I always do. And tomorrow I'll get up, same as always _again,_ an' I'll fix y'all breakfast. But if you ever raise a hand to me again, or to my little brothers, I will find where you hid the bullets for my rifle and shoot you."

 _Now_ she gets out, slamming the car door hard behind her as she stalks toward the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning Tanya Jo wakes up a bit later than usual, achy and out-of-sorts, and doesn't bother making herself presentable.

_Might as well look like shit, too._

So in that frame of mind she pads into the kitchen in one of Mama's old nightgowns, her feet bare and her hair disheveled from sleep, and finds three hungry Tuckers waiting at the table.

Pa glowers at her. "You're late, girl. An' I gotta be to work at seven."

"So go. One less plate for me to wash, after."

"Don't sass me," he warns. Then he notices the shiner half-hidden by the brown tangle of her hair. "And don't go traipsin' about town."

"Wasn't planning to."

"Folks might get the wrong idea," he adds, not letting it go, and Tanya Jo turns from the stove to glare at him.

"What wrong idea might that be, Pa? That I tripped over my own two feet an' fell, or that my clumsy little ass walked into a fucking door?"

Her father stares at her, too shocked for words, and Tanya Jo takes a ragged breath to calm herself. Then she smiles at her brothers.

"Y'all want sunny-up or scrambled?"

* * *

Finally Pa leaves, shooting her one last go-to-hell look and muttering under his breath, and Georgie jumps down from his chair and, without waiting for his brother, escapes to their room to play.

With her father gone, Tanya Jo's spirits lift dramatically. She fills one side of the sink with hot water, intending to wash the dishes – one less after all, since Pa took himself off to the lumber mill with only coffee in his belly – but when she goes to add the _Joy_ , the bottle emits one pathetic soap bubble and _pfffts_ rudely at her.

"Well, hell," she mutters, tossing the empty container into the nearby trash bucket.

"Two points," a voice says behind her, and she spins to see her eldest younger brother still at the table, gazing solemnly at her.

"You still here? Thought you took off with Georgie."

He shrugs. "Rather hang out here with you."

"How come?"

"Put it this way: 'Knock, knock.'"

"Who's there?"

"'Boy.'"

"Boy, who?"

"Boy, am I sick and tired of Georgie's knock-knock jokes!"

They laugh, then Billy turns serious.

"Hey, T.J.?"

She smiles at his pet name for her, so much nicer than Pa's choice for poor Georgie.

"I like when you call me that," she says. "You should do it more often."

"Can't."

"Why can't you?"

"'Causee Pa says it's trashy, an' he reckons you don't need no help bein' that way."

Her fists clench. "An' he don't need no help bein' an asshole!"

Billy frowns. He's used to his sister and father sniping at each other, 'specially since Mama went to the hospital in Knoxville and never came home, but this new level of anger between them scares him.

"You shouldn't talk like that, Tanya Jo. Pa ain't gonna like it."

 _Pa can kiss my ass,_ she thinks, but to her brother she says, "He doesn't like lots of things about me."

Billy thinks on that, then asks, "Don't that bother you?"

Tanya Jo shakes her head. "I reckon it makes us even." She pauses. "Now what were you gonna ask me?"

"When?"

"Just now, silly, when you said ' _Hey, T.J._?'"

It takes him a moment to remember, then his face brightens. "Oh, yeah! I wanted to ask which one."

"Which one what?"

"Which one blacked your eye. The door, or when you tripped on your feet?"

"What do _you_ think it was?" she asks, her heart aching for his innocence, and hating herself for what her rift with Pa must be doing to him and Georgie both.

His answer, when it comes, makes her want to cry. "I think our _daddy_ tripped you."

_Oh, Billy._

"C'mere you," she says, hugging him where he sits, his face buried between her breasts – _Pa would be so jealous_ – and her chin resting on top of his head. After a long while she lets him go and says, "I'm glad you're my brother, you an' Georgie both, but now y'all need to dress in your nice clothes."

"But why?" he protests. "School done let out for the summer!"

She grins, an evil gleam in her eyes. "'Cause we're goin' traipsin'."

When he's gone – and she's sure he won't come running back in – Tanya Jo takes an old coffee tin from the high-up cabinet above the sink, then sits at the table staring at it.

_Pa's 'mergency cash fund, which she isn't supposed to know about, and which he uses for his nightly drinking money._

What she's about to do could get her hurt – _really_ hurt – but after last night she doesn't care. After last night Pa can bite her skinny jailbait ass.

Taking a deep breath, she peels off the can's plastic lid.

Reaches in.

And gasps.

_Holy Mother of God._

Tanya Jo pulls out a handful of bills, mostly hundreds and fifties, and counts it.

_Six hundred dollars, with way more than that still in the can._

She wants to count the rest so bad it hurts, but with her brothers (or God forbid, Pa) apt to bust her at any moment she doesn't dare. Instead she slips $200 into the pocket of Mama's old gown, tosses $400 back into the can, and carefully returns the can to its hiding place.

And then, as she sits back down at the table, Tanya Jo has what is possibly the first truly devious thought of her life. She decides that Pa's secret stash is now _her_ secret stash as well.

* * *

_Bitter tears as she remembers:_

" _Hey, Pa?"_

" _What is it, Billy?"_

" _I need new pants for school. These ones is gettin' short, an' the other kids are razzin' me."_

" _Sorry, kid. Daddy's got bills."_

_And:_

" _Damnit, Tanya Jo, why I gotta see that same damn pair a your panties dryin' on the shower rod ever' night?"_

"' _Cause they're the only ones I got, the others all wore out."_

_He'd looked at her strangely then. "You mean you're bare-assed under that nightdress?"_

" _Yes, Pa."_

" _Well, shit."_

_And he'd turned and walked out of her room._

* * *

"Kendall residence, Betsy speaking."

"Hey, Bets, it's me. Your favorite babysitter."

Betsy Kendall laughs. "Well now, Miss Tucker, maybe you are an' maybe you ain't. An' maybe you're my _only_ one, too. How can I help you, kiddo?"

"Well, I was hoping you could watch the boys for me while I run some errands in town."

"Why, sure! And hopefully when you pick 'em back up you can say hi to Duane, he's comin' home today."

"Oh, Betsy, that's so awesome!"

Duane Kendall is a truck driver, often gone for weeks at a time, so his homecomings are joyously anticipated by Betsy and their kids.

_And by his brother, the ex-cop._

Tanya Jo, thinking of Will and hoping to see him in town, says, "I can tell Will for you if I see him 'fore you do."

"You've met him?" Betsy asks in surprise.

"Uh-huh. He was at the Scanlan place last night, sparkin' Jessi same as Pa." Then she adds, " _Pa's_ still sleepin' alone."

"Ooh, honey, you'll have to tell me that story," Betsy says, wondering at the girl's derisive tone. "When should I expect y'all?"

"Gimme an hour to get us ready, then I'll see you. An' then, Betsy Kendall, I'll tell you more'n you want to know about last night." And with that cryptic announcement, she says goodbye and flips her cell phone shut.

* * *

Tanya Jo takes a tub bath for the first time in ages, feeling sinfully wicked as she samples all the wonderful-smelling things in the bath kit Jessi'd given her. She washes her hair twice, and certain other parts of her too, and when she finally returns to her room she looks at her alarm clock in dismay.

8:15 a.m., fifteen minutes past when she'd promised to arrive at the Kendall place.

"Oh, no!"

She snatches up her phone, calls Betsy with a hurried apology, and finishes getting ready.

* * *

Ten minutes later, wearing her shortest cut-offs and a tight green tee cropped just below her breasts, she paints her toenails black and her fingernails red. Then, with her damp, uncombed hair hanging half in her face – effectively hiding her black eye and bruised cheek – she studies herself in the mirror.

_T.J. Tucker, trashy jailbait whore._

"My daddy is such an ass," she says aloud, then grabs her flip-flops and goes to fetch her brothers.

* * *

Tanya Jo ushers the boys out the door ahead of her. As she turns to lock up she catches Billy staring at her skimpy outfit and bare feet.

"How come you get to go barefooted and we don't?"

"Don't need shoes to walk to town, an' I got these..." – she holds up her flip-flops – "...for when we get there."

Billy's still pouting. "So okay, but how come you made me an' Poot wear our good clothes, an' you still get to wear your half-naked ones?"

"Quit askin'me how come and just do as I say. And for Chrissakes quit callin' your brother Poot!"

"Pa always does."

"Pa's an idiot."

As they pass the carport, Tanya Jo gazes longingly at the truck parked there, the cherry red '71 El Camino Donnie'd bought cheap at an auction and had his brother restore.

Thinking of Uncle Paul makes her scowl, he and Mama never got along and he'd refused to attend her wake or funeral, and Tanya Jo for one has never forgiven him.

"Someday," she says now, "I'm gonna take us down in the El Csmino, an' too bad if your daddy don't like it!"

"Cool!" Georgie says, but Billy just stares at her.

"But you can't drive!"

"Sure I can. Pa taught me right after Mama died, remember?"

"No."

"Well, he did, case y'all ever got hurt or something while he was workin'."

_Or too damn drunk to drive, but never mind._

"Oh, yeah," Billy says, and after that their trek down the mountain passes mostly in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

They sit at the Kendall's kitchen table sipping coffee, and Betsy is not fooled by Tanya Jo's veil of hair. And when the boys are safely off playing with her girls, she turns to glare at her.

"Jesus Christ, what happened to your eye? An' don't tell me you walked into a goddamn door!"

Betsy hardly ever swears, so Tanya Jo knows she's pissed and not to lie to her.

_But why should I lie? Pa his own self said he don't want folks gettin' the wrong idea._

"Wasn't no door. Pa got mad and whupped me."

Betsy's eyes go narrow. "How bad?"

The girl shrugs. "He backhanded me, then pulled up my dress and spanked the hell outta my butt."

"Was he drunk?"

Tanya Jo shakes her head. "No. We was just getting' home from the Scanlan place."

"Then why'd he hit you?"

Another shrug. "'Cause I sassed him. And he didn't like how I was lookin' all crossways at him during dinner."

"Jesus Christ," Betsy says again, then fixes the younger girl with a look. "You should tell the sheriff."

"No!" Tanya Jo's eyes are wide and scared. "I want him shamed, not jailed."

"But why not? He deserves to be locked up for what he did to you."

"Maybe so, but if'n they arrest him he can't work."

Betsy sighs. "Okay , I can see that." She pushes a hand through her unruly red curls. "So how you plannin' to shame him?"

Tanya Jo smiles. "Well, I'm gonna _traipse_ up and down Main Street, runnin' my errands an' lettin' folks see my face, and them that ask are gonna get an earful."

Betsy returns her grin. "Girl, that'll work. But here..." She pulls her purse closer and takes out her wallet, then offers Tanya Jo five twenties. "Consider this an advance on your babysitting."

The girl's eyes widen, and she grins. "I'll take it, and I thank you, but I already have money."

She pulls Pa's $200 from her shorts pocket, sets it on the table next to Betsy's $100, and watches Betsy widen her own eyes in surprise.

"Well, damn! Where'd you get that?"

"Pa's got him a secret stash of drinkin' money that I seen him dip into one time." Her grin turns wicked. "Let's just say I borrowed me a little."

"A _little_? How much has he got hidden away?"

Tanya Jo offers Betsy her third shrug. "I didn't dare count it case someone walked in on me."

"You mean like the boys?"

Tanya Jo nods. "Or Pa."

Betsy shudders at the thought. "He'd a likely killed you." And then, as something occurs to her, she says, "Oh, hell!"

"What?"

"You ain't been givin' him all your sittin' money from _me_ , have you?"

"Only part of it. He don't know how much you really pay me."

"Good girl." Betsy stands up, looking at her watch. "Now you'd best be off, you don't want Donnie bumping into you on his lunch break."

"For real," Tanys Jo agrees as she too gets to her feet. They hug, then she heads out to give folks in Richland Creek the right idea.

* * *

Her first stop after Betsy's is The Dollar Den, which is owned by some guy in a turban who everyone but her calls _Mac,_ as in _'Yo, Mac, where you keep the damn tampons? My woman's on the rag again.'_

Tanyo Jo, being less formal - and four years past needing to ask where the damn tampons are - simply calls him _Hey, mister._

She wanders the store, pushing a cart with one wobbly wheel, and the first thing she throws into it is an economy-size bottle of off-brand dish soap. This is followed by two even larger bottles of _Xtra_ laundry detergent at $2.99 each.

"So much for all the shit bein' a buck," she mutters, pausing her cart by a bin marked with a sign that reads, _Lady's Things._

Mostly bras and panties, and Tanya Jo grins, wondering if the lady in question knows Mac is selling off her underwear.

She picks out several panties that look like they might fit, _hoping_ they will 'cause a sign under the first one says, _Absolutely no refunds or exchanges._

Cynically noting that Mac had spelled _that_ sign correctly, Tanya Jo pushes her balky cart up to the checkout.

"Y'all should fix the wheel on this thing," she tells Mac as she unloads her items onto the counter.

He shrugs. "Those who do not like my amenities are free to shop elsewhere."

Her eyes narrow at his rudeness. "Not sure what _amenities_ means, but if folks hereabouts quit buyin' your stuff it won't be for that. It'll be 'cause you can't keep a civil tongue in your head."

They glare at each other, then with a muttered foreign curse Mac rings her up.

"That comes to $12.57," he says, in a tone like maybe she can't afford it.

She hands him one of Betsy's twenties, then picks up her plastic bag and waits for her change.

As he counts $7.43 onto the counter he asks, "So what happened to your face?"

His concern – if that's what it is – surprises Tanya Jo just enough that she answers bluntly.

"My daddy smacked the shit outta me."

He scowls at her. "Perhaps you offended him somehow, with your own rude tongue or your indecent clothing." He sighs, not seeing the light of battle come into Tanya Jo's eyes. "I find it shameful, the way children in your country treat their parents."

"Course you do," she retorts. "An' it don't surprise me, you stickin' up for Pa, considerin' how you Muslim gents treat your womenfolks."

His face goes red behind his beard. "I am not Muslim, I am Sikh! And you are no longer welcome in my store."

"Whatever, mister. But if you're so sick you oughtta see a doctor."

And with that she turns and walks out.

* * *

Her next stop is Lacy's Café, where she shoves the door open a bit forcefully and stalks inside, and to her chagrin every soul in the place – including Will Kendall and Sheriff Malloy - looks up from their food to stare at her.

_Well, damn._

"Howdy, y'all," she says, staring right back.

Her friend Lacy Anders, who'd just recently – at the ripe old age of nineteen - taken over the place when her daddy took sick, raises a brow at her.

"Easy there, Teej. Them glass doors cost money." Then she sees Tanya Jo's battered face and her eyes flash. "And where'd you get that purple eye? Was it your daddy?"

Tanya Jo takes a breath, well aware that once she says the words, here among Pa's friends and neighbors, they will spread like wildfire.

_So be it._

"It was," she tells them, her eyes narrow and glittering. "An' if he tries to tell y'all diff'rent, don't you believe it."

Angry muttering greets this, and finally Lacy asks, "That why you come stormin'in here like the wrath of God, or was it somethin' else?"

"It was Mac."

"Mac? You mean the gent that owns Dollar Den?"

"Yeah, him. I told him he should fix his damn cart, an' he said I should shop somewhere else if it bothered me so much."

More muttering, then Lacy – who knows Tanya Jo too well – says, "That ain't what got you all riled, is it? What else happened?"

"He seen my eye, an' when I said Pa done it he said it was my own fault 'cause kids in this country are shameful in how we treat our parents."

"Well, hell," one of Lacy's customers says, "if the bearded little shit don't like how we raise our kids, let 'im get on his camel and get gone!"

When the uproar from _that_ comment dies down, Lacy encourages her with, "What else, Teej? You ain't one to let a comment like that go."

As Tanya Jo finishes relaying the rest of her run-in with Mac, she sees Lacy biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"What? T'ain't funny, what he said to me!"

"Oh, honey, I know. But Sikh means his religion, not how healthy he is."

_Oh, no. I shamed him for bein' somethin' he ain't._

With a stricken look on her face, the girl says "Be right back, y'all," and heads for the door.

* * *

Tanya Jo hesitates just outside the café, her earlier words to Mac still shaming her

_The man was rude, but so were you._

"Well, hell," she mutters, then turns and walks back to The Dollar Den.

* * *

When the door jingles to announce her entrance, Mac – or whatever his real name is – looks up and glares at her.

She says what she came for in a rush: "Look, mister, I know you said not to come back, an' I still reckon you were wrong about me an' my pa, but I was wrong, too, in what I said 'bout you bein' a Muslim, so I'm sorry, okay?"

She starts to turn away, but his voice stops her.

"Wait, please."

She stops, looking at him silently.

"Here," he says, tossing a humongous beef stick at her that she catches in self-defense.

"What's this for?"

"For you, child. To show there are no hard feelings." He pauses, then adds, "I am sorry as well."

"Well, okay then." She rewards him with her prettiest smile. "Does this mean I can come back again?"

"Of course."

Her eyes twinkle at him. "Then my rude American ass will see you next time."

Again she turns on her heel and walks out, her step lighter this time and Mac's laugh following her out the door.

* * *

Back at Lacy's the same crowd is mostly still there, but this time Tanya Jo ignores them and perches on a stool at the lunch counter.

"Lace, I need a job," she says as Lacy sets a cold glass of Pepsi in front of her, and now the other girl raises _both_ brows.

"For real? Ain't carin' for Donnie and the boys work enough?"

Tanya Jo rolls her eyes. "It's work aplenty, but the pay kinda sucks. An' if I'm ever gonna get out from under Pa's thumb, it's gonna take cash money." She hesitates, then adds, "I was hopin' for Sundays 'cause that's when Pa likes to spend time with the boys."

"I can use you. You got a Social Security card?"

Tanya Jo nods. "State I.D., too."

"That'll work. When you wanna start?"

"How 'bout tomorrow?"

Lacy grins. "Tomorrow's cool with me, if noon-to-six is cool with you."

"Oh, that's perfect! Thanks, Lace."

"Don't thank me yet," Lacy warns. "I might turn out to be a cruel task-master."

"I doubt it," Tanya Jo replies, "but compared to Pa I'll take my chances."

Further down the counter Milt Stark, who owns the only decent bar in Richland Creek, speaks up.

"I can use you, too," he says. "Sundays I open late, an' I need someone to come in and mop up the blood from Saturday night."

He winks to show he's kidding, then says, "I'll pay whatever Lacy's offering, if you'll stop in my place 'fore you start your shift here."

"Oh, cool," Tanya Jo says, then casts a quizzical look at Lacy. "What _are_ you offerin', by the way?"

Lacy looks embarrassed. "Can't afford much over minimum, so how's eight bucks an hour sound?"

Tanya Jo says it sounds just fine, and Milt nods. "That settles it, then. Miss Tucker, I'll expect you tomorrow morning around ten."

"For sure," she tells him, catching the key he tosses her and slipping it into her pocket. "But neither a y'all best tell Pa if he comes around. I'm gonna wait 'til church in the morning."

Lacy's look is fierce. "I ain't tellin' that man shit, 'cept to eat somewhere else from now on."

This announcement meets with general approval from her customers, and Milt mutters, "I got half a mind to tell him the same thing."

Tanya Jo looks horrified. "Don't you dare, Milt Stark! He'd just take to drinkin' at home, an' then I'd hafta shoot you both."

Folks laugh at that, and then Tanya Jo says her goodbyes and takes herself back outside.

* * *

As she walks back toward the end of Main Street where Betsy lives, Tanya Jo pauses in front of Lannister's Lock Shop as an idea takes root in her mind.

She goes in.

* * *

Jessup Lannister has been Richland Creek's locksmith for over forty of his sixty-five years, and when Donnie Tucker's pretty young daughter enters his shop, with her long flyaway hair and longer tanned legs, he wishes he could have every one of them back.

"Can I help you, darlin'?" he drawls.

"I reckon," she replies, not missing – or minding – the appreciative look he'd just given her. "I need me a second lock on my bedroom door, one of them deadbolt kinds that lock with a key." She thinks for a moment, then adds, "And a metal cabinet, like for hangin' clothes an' such."

"I don't sell those," Jessup tells her, "but I've got an old one in back I could let you have for ten bucks."

"Does it lock?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, then. Can we go now?"

He raises his brows. "Now? But surely your pa is handy enough to install a simple deadbolt."

"Oh, Pa's _handy_ all right," she says, "but not for normal shit like that."

Only then does Jessup notice the raccoon eye trying to hide behind her hair, and Tanya Jo sees his eyes narrow.

"Was it him who did that to you?"

"For sure an' certain," she says, meeting his gaze. "It's why I need the lock, an' why I need _you_ to put it on for me."

Jessup studies her, then nods.

"Let's go, then. I'll get my son's boy to help with the cabinet."

* * *

The ride up the mountain in Jessup's battered pickup is short but bumpy, with Tanya Jo squished tight between him and his grandson Junior, who smells like sweat and says not a word to her the entire time.

Not even when he puts his greasy hand on her bare thigh and she pretends not to notice.

* * *

An hour later, with Junior and his groping claw safely back in the pickup, Tanya Jo stands with Jessup in her front yard.

"Thank you, Mr. Lannister. What do I owe you 'sides my 'preciation and gratitude?"

"Not a dime. I'll send your pa my bill."

Tanya Jo shakes her head so hard that for a moment her hair falls over _both_ eyes.

"No, sir. If'n _I_ pay you, Pa's got no say over what I done."

Jessup considers this, then grins. "Am I still allowed to offer a pretty girl a discount?"

"Depends on what you be sellin'," she says saucily. "But I reckon that'll be okay."

"Good deal." He does some calculating in his head. "How's fifty bucks sound?"

Her eyes narrow. "Like I'm cheatin' you."

"Not at all. That covers the lock and the cabinet, and my gas besides. My labor, and the shells for your rifle, were on me."

"That's right decent of you," Tanya Jo tells him, smiling her thanks. "But what about Junior? Don't he wanna get paid?"

Jessup shoots a disgusted look at his grandson waiting in the truck. Then he looks back at her and winks.

"Seen him pawin' your leg on the ride up, so I figure he done paid himself already."

She laughs, then counts two twenties and a ten into his hand.

"I like you, Mr. Lannister. You'll hafta join us for supper sometime."

"I like you, too, Miss Tucker. And I'd be honored."

"Call me Tanya Jo."

"Only if you call me Jessup."

They smile at each other, then a minute later Tanya Jo watches the pickup head back to town in a cloud of dust and flying gravel.

Then she returns to the house to leave Pa a note and pack for a stay at Betsy's.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

**_Hey Pa,_ **

**_By now I reckon you know I ain't here, or the boys neither, and I reckon you know why. You can be mad at me all you want, but too bad._ **

**_You brung it on yourself, tellin' me folks might get the wrong idea, and all I done was make sure none of 'em did._ **

**_Anyways, we be stayin' at Betsy's, she advanced me money on my babysitting so's I could buy things we need, and as you prob'ly seen, I got me a new deadbolt on my bedroom door._ **

**_My money paid for that there lock, so you got no call to bitch, not like that ever stopped you before._ **

**_Pa, things are different 'tween us, 'specially since you whupped me, and part of me is sorry for it, but mostly it's about damn time._ **

**_There's so much mad in me right now, and if I wrote it all down in this letter there'd be nothin' but swear words._ **

**_So to keep us from killin' each other, I'm staying gone. I'll return you the boys tomorrow at church, where there'll be lots of folks around, and after that we'll see._ **

**_But hey, least you won't need no one's help with me no more, 'cause I got me a job._ **

**_I can't believe you said that shit to me._ **

**_I can't believe Mama married you._ **

**_But mostly I can't believe I still love you._ **

**_See you around._ **

**_Tanya Jo_ **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning Tanya Jo is up early to help Betsy with breakfast, then she dresses Billy and Georgie in their good clothes again, and herself in sneakers, tight faded jeans, and an untucked red blouse that she buttons just enough not to cause a scandal at church.

Then she promises to see Betsy later, and they head out.

* * *

Tanya Jo sits on a nearby bench with the boys, waiting for Pa and saying hey to other parisioners as they arrive.

One of these is Jessup, who smiles warmly when he sees her.

"Hello there, Tanya Jo!"

"Hello there, yourself, Jessup Lannister," she teases, then grins. "Long time no see , hey?"

"Too long," he agrees, winking at her. "You waitin' on your pa?"

"Uh-huh."

"Seen him since me an' Junior came out?"

"Nosir, I ain't, nor talked to him, neither." She lets out a worried sigh. "I reckon he must be some put out with me by now."

She doesn't mention the note she'd left, and after a short silence Jessup says, "Would you like for some of us to sort of stick close in case Donnie steps out of line?"

She smiles gratefully. "I'd be obliged."

And so it is that when Pa finally shows up ten minutes later, he finds not only Tanya Jo and his sons, but half the congregation loitering about and pretending to pay him no mind whatsoever.

The first thing he says is, "Boys, why don't y'all go play with some a them other kids while your sister an' me talk?"

They both look askance at Tanya Jo, who nods, and only then do they take off in search of their friends.

Donnie's face flushes with anger. "Who the fuck died and left you boss?"

"Mama did," she says, feeling her fists clench so hard her nails dig into her palms. "Or did you forget?"

He almost hits her, but not here in front of all these folks, so he settles for a verbal attack instead.

"Them duds you're wearin' ain't fit for church, and your shirt ain't buttoned high enough."

She shrugs. "Ain't goin' to church, an' how I button my shirt ain't no concern of yours, not no more."

Pa's eyes darken. "Watch that mouth, hey? An' you'll go to church if I say you will!"

"No, Pa. I gotta get to work."

Now he snorts, and Tanya Jo almost slaps _him._

"Who'd hire a snot-nosed brat like you?"

"Lacy, down to the café," she says, keeping her job with Milt Stark to herself.

_He'll hear of it 'fore too long anyhow, an' that'll be time enough to argue the point._

"Lacy's, is it? But why today? Sunday be the Lord's day, 'less you're a heathen."

Tanya Jo forces her voice to stay calm. "'Cause I need money, an' 'cause them other days I'm too busy workin' my ass off for free."

"You tell 'im, Tanya Jo!" Jessup Lannister calls out, earning him a smile from her and a glare from Pa.

"Well, fine," he says, a greedy light coming into his eyes. "You can put some cash into the kitty after all, seein's how you won't have no babysittin' money for a time."

"No."

"Whaddaya mean, no? You'll do as I say, by God, or you'll not sleep under my roof!"

"Don't tempt me," she snaps, then takes a deep breath. "And as for your precious kitty, it's doin' just fine with the eleven hundred bucks I left for you in the coffee can."

He glowers at her. "That can ain't no business of your'n," he says angrily, then his eyes narrow. "And what was that about what you _left_ me?"

"I took back half the money from Betsy I ever gave you." She looks at Sheriff Malloy, who is again among the onlookers. "You got any problem with that?"

"None whatsoever," the sheriff says, glaring at Donnie. "I figure you earned that money, sure enough, an' there ain't no law in my book says you gotta give it to no drunk."

"Now see here-" Donnie starts to sputter, but Tanya Jo cuts him off. And her bitter words now do more to finish him in Richland Creek than even her battered face had done.

"No, Pa, _you_ see here," she says, on her feet and glaring at him. "I been carin' for you an' the boys since Mama died, puttin' game on the table, washin' your shitty drawers for you, an' for what? So when I asked you for money for undies of my own, 'cause I was down to one raggedy-ass pair, you said how goddamn poor we were an' went off to Stark's to drink up all that money we didn't fuckin' have."

Donnie flushes with the truth of her outburst, but to his credit he squares his shoulders and meets her gaze head on.

"Had that comin', I suppose, an' you've sure 'nuff shamed me afore God an' everybody, but you still be my daughter for alla that." He takes a shaky breath. "When you comin' home so we can fix what's broke between us?"

"Tonight, I reckon, so long as you remember two things."

"What two things?"

"I got bullets for my rifle again, an' I cook your food."

* * *

She arrives at the bar at 9:30 to find a note taped to the front door:

_Tanya Jo,_

_Use the key my pa gave you to let yourself in, the stuff you need to sweep and mop is in the back, along with two big trash cans. The green one's for bottles (after you empty 'em), the black one's for everything else. I'll be back around eleven to pay you._

_Thanks,_

_Josh Stark_

_PS – Just sweep and mop the washrooms, and empty the wastebaskets if they be full...We got a regular cleaning woman for all that other stuff, but she don't come in Sundays._

_PS 2 – If you get thirsty, feel free to go behind the bar and pour yourself a soda or whatever...Just nothing alcoholic._

Tanya Jo folds the note and slips it into the back pocket of her jeans, then lets herself into the bar with Milt's key, wondering how the hell _else_ Josh thought she might try to get in.

* * *

Once inside, she finds the jukebox first off, plugs it in, and throws in some quarters.

Mostly old country songs on there, so Tanya Jo happily plays some Reba, some Garth, and some Dolly, plus some Taylor Swift and Faith Hill to round things off.

She really wants to kick off her sneakers, but one look at the floor makes her hold off until after she's mopped it. Then she ties her hair back in a loose ponytail, knots her blouse into an even looser halter, and gets to work.

* * *

An hour later, with Lila McCann's _That's What Angels Do_ on the juke, Tanya Jo pours some cranberry juice into an iced mug and sits herself down at the bar to wait for Josh Stark.

Her sneakers plop to the floor as she curls her toes around the metal rung of the stool she's perched on.

She sips her juice, then takes another, longer sip, closing her eyes as the delicious liquid slides down her parched throat.

And that's when she feels a gentle tug at her ponytail as someone looses it, followed by the familiar fall of her hair across her shoulders as that same someone begins combing their fingers through the full length of it.

Her eyes pop open.

In the backbar mirror she sees him behind her, a boy with curly black hair, dark eyes, and a crooked smile, which she can't help but return.

"You must be Josh," she tells his reflection.

"And you must be Tanya Jo."

Hands on her shoulders now, massaging, and this is new for her, new and pleasant, and again Tanya Jo's eyes close.

 _Not sure if'n I should slap him or kiss him,_ she thinks, and Josh, as if sensing her thoughts, spins her around on the stool and kisses _her,_ a hard, lipstick-smearing kiss that leaves her breathless and wanting more, and all too aware that her blouse has somehow unknotted itself during his assault on her lips.

They stare at each other, and when her sanity returns Tanya Jo says, "You always so bold, Josh Stark?"

"No more than you," he shoots back, flicking a finger at one of her shamelessly erect nipples.

"They do that when it's cold, too," she says, glaring defiantly and blushing as she reties her shirt.

Then her eyes widen as he takes out his wallet, extracts two tens, then takes his sweet time tucking them into her breast pocket.

"Those better be for cleanin'," Tanya Jo mutters, sighing as his fingers awaken even more new feelings down low in her belly.

"Course they are," he says with that crooked grin of his. "And I hope me kissin' you won't keep you from coming back next Sunday."

"It ain't likely to," she says, "But just to make sure you'd best kiss me again."

So he does.

* * *

Her shift at Lacy's is tiring but sadly uneventful, with not a single customer kissing her senseless or so much as pinching her behind, and when it's over she can't wait to go home, Pa or no Pa.

Then she gets there, and all hell breaks loose.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

The first thing Tanya Jo sees as she nears the house, carrying her sneakers and humming tunelessly to herself, is Billy coming toward her on the run, yelling and scared half to death.

The second thing is the El Camino, out in the middle of the yard with its motor running and the driver's side door open. And something sprawled on the ground next to it.

_Shit, that's Pa, and he's bleedin' like a stuck pig._

She ditches her sneakers and purse and drops to her knees next to him.

"What happened to Pa?" she asks Billy as he stands beside her with his trembling hand on her shoulder. "And where's your brother?"

"Sent Georgie inside to fetch a blanket. And Pa's drunk."

"Figured that," she says shortly. "But what _happened_?"

"He started drinkin' soon's we got in the truck, callin' you a bitch an' sayin' how you done 'masculated him in front of the whole town this mornin'."

_Well, hell._

_I did this to him._

She says it out loud, and Billy tightens his grip on her shoulder.

"No, Tanya Jo, he done it to himself."

She knows better, but before she can argue the point Goergie comes running up and thrusts a blanket at her.

She covers Pa with it, using a corner to try and staunch the flow of blood from his temple, but when that doesn't help she sits back on her heels and swears in frustration.

"Okay," she says suddenly. "Y'all gotta help me get him back into the truck."

Billy starts to suggest calling the sheriff, but one look at his sister's face stops him.

* * *

It takes all three of them, and too many precious minutes, but finally Tanya Jo has Pa's dead weight buckled into the passenger seat, half-conscious and wrapped in the blanket.

"You an' Georgie follow me down on foot," she instructs Billy as she fastens her own belt. "Or stay here an' wait for my call."

"Why can't we go with you?"

"Billy, you know there ain't no room in the cab for four of us."

"We could ride in back, then."

"Not as fast as I'll be goin', you can't."

Billy makes one more try.

"But Tanya Jo, what if you hit a deer or a tree or somethin'?"

She shoots him an annoyed look. "I ain't gonna, but if'n I do me an' Pa'll be seein' Mama sooner'n we thought. Now shut up so's I can go."

* * *

As Tanya Jo comes off the mountain onto the wrong end of Main Street, she's got the El Camino up over 70 and rising, her bare foot pressed hard on the gas pedal as she prays to God she isn't already too late.

* * *

_Most folks along Main hear her coming before they see her, and only see her briefly as the El Camino roars past, but in those few moments Tanya Jo Tucker earns her place in the folklore of Richland Creek._

* * *

She skids the truck to a hard stop in front of the town's small country hospital, only then noticing that her blouse has once again unknotted itself.

"Well, hell," she mutters, less concerned with her near-naked state than with all the blood drying on her exposed skin.

_Pa's blood._

That thought stifles whatever spurt of modesty she may have felt, and Tanya Jo exits the truck on the run to get help for her pa.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Will and Jessi sit close on the living room couch, him in a pair of boxers, her in just her t-shirt as she brushes out her damp hair.

Will watches her, remembering their earlier lovemaking as he reaches out to grope one of her breasts through the shirt. Then he kisses her.

Their tongues meet, and as Will slides his hand up her bare thigh and under her shirt his eyes widen in surprise and he grins.

"Forget your panties again, Jess?"

"Didn't forget," she murmurs huskily, squirming under his touch, but just then there is a knock at the front door and Will's hand stops roaming.

"Well, damn," he mutters. "I suppose I should get that."

Jessi's eyes widen. "If that's Mace, I should prob'ly find some shorts to slip into."

"Too early for him, sit tight while I have a look." He stands reluctantly and goes to the door.

"So who is it?" she asks as Will pulls the window curtain aside to look out.

"I'm not sure. Some barefooted urchin with no clothes on."

Silence from outside, then Tanya Jo's indignant voice saying, "I do so have clothes on!"

Jessi grins. "Well, don't just stand there, let the girl in for Pete's sake."

Will no sooner has the door open a crack when an irate fifteen-year-old in skimpy cut-offs and an even skimpier top pushes past him.

"I should have known," she says, glaring at them. "Here I been, lookin' all over Richland Creek for you two, and y'all are playin' pattycake at the first damn place I looked." Noting their own scantily-clad appearance, she adds, "And my barefoot-urchin self has more clothes on than both a you put together!"

"The girl has a point," Jessi tells Will, then arches a brow at Tanya Jo. "And you, young lady, what do _you_ know about playing pattycake?"

Tanya Jo shrugs. "That's what Mama called it, whenever two grown-ups got horny with each other."

She perches herself on the edge of the couch, and that's when Jessi gets a good look at her bruised cheek and discolored eye.

"Oh, my lord, what happened to your poor face?"

Tanya Jo looks at Will. "You ain't told her yet?"

Jessi looks from one to the other. " _Somebody_ tell me. Did her daddy do that to her?"

Will nods and tousles Tanya Jo's already mussed hair. "Well, yeah. And the kid had herself quite a day Saturday."

"I hope it involved castration," Jessi mutters, as Tanya Jo snuggles against her.

Will grins. "Not like you mean, but she euchred the man just the same."

"I went traipsin'," the girl adds helpfully.

"Traipsin'?" Jessi asks, arching _both_ brows.

"She came off the mountain against Donnie's orders, dropped her brothers off with Betsy in their Sunday best, and proceeded to show half the town her face."

"Good girl," Jessi says. "But why their Sunday best?"

Tanya Jo raises her head from the comfort of Jessi's breast. "Wanted folks to see Pa don't need no _help_ with me."

Jessi's heart aches for this girl, so young to have so much to deal with. "Oh, honey, folks already know what a blessing you've been to your family. Anybody with a brain knows."

" _Pa_ don't," Tanya Jo mutters, and Will grins at her.

"Like the lady said," he says, and they all laugh.

"Look what Will got me," Jessi says finally, and when Tanya Jo sees the ring on her finger she squeals.

"Y'all are gettin' hitched!"

"We sure are," Will says with a grin.

"When? An' I better be invited!"

"August 20," Jessi says. "And you are most certainly invited." She reaches into the purse resting next to her bare feet and pulls something out. "It's why we got you this."

Tanya Jo's eyes widen when she sees what it is.

"A bus ticket? But why? Ain't y'all tyin' the knot here? Ain't y'all _livin'_ here _,_ after?"

"No, honey. Will's been offered a job with the Denver P.D., we're gonna live in the house where he grew up."

"That sounds awesome," Tanya Jo whispers. "But if y'all fetch me out there for the wedding, I might never wanna leave."

Will musses her hair again. "Jess an' I discussed that possibility," he tells her gently. "It's why that 'Hound ticket is only one way."

"And," Jessi adds, "there's plenty of room for Billy and Georgie to come visit when they're not in school."

"Oh, God, I love you guys," Tanya Jo cries, hugging them both.

The sound of a car pulling up outside startles them, with Tanya Jo bracing for possible bad news about Pa, but when Will goes to the door and looks out his face breaks into a huge grin.

"It's Mace," he tells them, and suddenly Jessi groans and jumps to her feet.

"Be right back," she says, and dashes from the room.

"What's with her?" Tanya Jo asks Will. "Don't she like this Mace gent?"

Will grins. "She forgot to put on panties this morning."

"I did _not_ forget!" Jessi hollers from down the hall, then they hear her bedroom door slam shut.

Tanya Jo sighs, wishing she had someone worth forgetting _her_ undies for, then flushes hot as she thinks of Josh.

* * *

 _Another good-lookin' gent,_ Tanya Jo thinks as Will's friend and former partner enters the room. _And another one who ain't nothing like Pa._

His name is Mace Keller, and it is obvious the two men are close.

"It's really you, isn't it?" Mace says as he grabs Will in an emotional bear hug.

She's not sure what that means, but now Will looks sort of embarrassed.

"Yeah, Mace, it's me."

"I knew it, damn you! I knew you could find your way back to us again."

_Back from where?_

Will and Mace break their hug, and Tanya Jo sees the shock on Mace's face when he sees her and Jessi, who has quickly returned after pulling on a pair of old jeans.

Will introduces him to Jessi, who shakes his hand. Then there's more talk which Tanya Jo only partially follows, and finally Mace looks directly at Jessi.

"Lady," he says, "you must be one hell of a special gal."

"She is," Tanya Jo says, tired of being ignored.

Mace smiles at her. "And who might you be, pretty lady?" he asks, and she feels suddenly shy.

"Tanya Jo Tucker, at your service," she replies, sticking out her hand.

His smile widens. "Ah, the infamous Tanya Jo. I've been hearing about you since I got to town."

"What'd I do now?"

"Hell, kid, nothing bad. But folks are still talking about how you tore off down the mountain in your daddy's El Camino and saved his life." He looks at Will and Jessi, who are both gaping at her. "The way I heard it, she drove that damn truck like a madwoman, then ran into the ER like Lady-freakin'-Godiva."

Tanya Jo blushes furiously. "T'was nothin' Mama wouldn'ta done," she tells them. "And Lady Godiva had a _horse._ "

"Oh, honey," Jessi whispers, hugging Tanya Jo against her. "Who made you so brave?"

She sighs, not answering because she knows she is not brave at all, but simply doing what she needs to do each day to help her family.

_And yeah, Pa, that includes you._

The steady beat of Jessi's heart lulls her as the others continue their conversation, and soon her eyes close and she falls asleep.

* * *

She awakens with her head on Jessi's bare thigh as her friend absently strokes her hair. On T.V. _The Price is Right_ is just going off.

"You took off your jeans."

"More comfy this way."

"Less confinin' too, I reckon, 'specially when you ain't wearing panties."

"You're an imp," Jessi says, as Tanya Jo sits up and tucks her own bare legs under her.

She looks around sleepily. "Where'd Will and Mace go?"

"Them two took off to meet Duane at Milt's Bar so's they can catch up on old times." She rolls her eyes. "I think Mace was hoping to see your pa there."

"How come?"

"To give the man a shiner matchin' yours, prob'ly."

"Too bad Pa's still in the hospital, then," Tanya Jo mutters.

"About that," Jessi says. "When were you gonna give me the details on that, anyway? Christmas?"

"Oh, hush," the girl retorts, then tells Jessi the whole story, from seeing Pa at church to coming home to find him bleeding in the front yard, and ending with her wild drive down the mountain.

When she's done, Tanya Jo ducks her head so her hair hides her face. "Jess," she says softly, "did I do right, shamin' Pa like I done? Whole town hates him now, seems like."

"As well they should," Jessi says fiercely. "And so what? He was wrong to do you like that."

The girl looks up, fighting back tears. "I'm glad you feel that way, Jess. An' I'm happy you an' Will found each other, even if it means I won't hardly see you no more."

"Oh, you'll see us, just whenever you like," Jessi tells her. Then she pulls the sobbing girl into a fierce hug and lets her cry all over the front of her t-shirt.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I reckon I'll be goin' now, Pa."

He eyes her in her faded jeans, flip-flops, and green untucked blouse, and nods.

"When we gonna see you again?"

"Prob'ly right before school starts." She takes a deep breath and steels herself. " _If_ I come back."

She expects an argument, but things have gotten so bad between them now – despite her guilt and his gratitude - that he just shrugs.

"If they want you, and you prefer them to me, I reckon things can be arranged."

Tanya Jo sighs in relief, but she can almost see the dollar signs in her father's eyes.

 _He'll sell me like he'd sell a steer,_ she thinks, but for once her father's rude ways don't bother her.

She has a bus to catch.

* * *

The Greyhound rolls west, somewhere in Oklahoma now, and Tanya Jo marvels at how flat everything is, not a damn mountain in sight.

She feels a slight pang for home, a fiercer one for her brothers, who'd both hugged her so tight before she boarded the bus she thought they'd never let go.

 _They'll be fine,_ she thinks, _Pa won't mistreat them like he did me. And once he finds a wife, they'll have a proper stepmom caring for them, 'steada their big sister._

She blinks back sudden tears, feeling lost and alone, but that's when her cell phone vibrates in her pocket and it's Jessi.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you. You on that bus yet?"

"Yeah, somewhere flat."

Jessi laughs. "You'll get over it." Then she asks, "So what'd you wear for the trip? Something comfy, I hope."

"Old jeans and a shirt. And my flip-flops."

"But no bra, I bet."

"Course not." She grins. "An' if that's a problem, lemme know now so's I can catch the next 'Hound home."

Jessi laughs again, then says, "Honey, I would never dream of changing you, and it wouldn't matter to me if you stepped off that damn bus naked."

"Careful what you wish for," Tanya Jo warns her, and now they're both laughing.

"Just get your butt here, nude or otherwise," Jessi says, then they say goodbye.

* * *

Much later, just after daybreak, Tanya Jo awakens as the bus heads north into Colorado, and lets out a gasp.

_Mountains!_

The sight of the snow-capped Rockies makes her happy and she smiles, and then a picture of Mama appears in her mind clear as day.

_Hi, Mama. I don't know what's to become of me, or if I'll ever marry a man smarter than Pa, but whatever happens I will always try to make you proud._

Finally she reclines her seat and lets her eyes close, just for a moment, and when she opens them again she's in Denver and Jessi and Will are there waiting for her.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 

Back at school after her return from Denver, as Tanya Jo slams her locker shut prior to leaving Grainger High for the day, her sophomore English teacher appears next to her.

"Miss Tucker, I'm glad I caught you."

"Oh, hey Mr. Lloyd. What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you privately about your report on _The Scarlet Letter_ this morning."

"Yessir?"

"Well, first of all, your take on Hester's persecutors and what she thought that letter _A really_ stood for was classic."

"Thank you."

"You're quite welcome," he says, trying to look stern, but she sees a smile lurking there as he continues. "However, Miss Tucker, that particular word is not appropriate in a school setting."

She shrugs, her eyes twinkling. "I reckon that's so, but some a them other kids was dozin' on me, an' I wanted 'em to pay attention."

"I think it worked," he says wryly, his smile no longer just lurking. "But what say you watch the cuss words from now on?"

"Okay." She studies him, then plunges ahead. "Mr. Lloyd, can I ask you somethin' personal?"

"Of course." He winks at her. "I may not answer, but at least you will have tried."

"Okay, then. How come all your shirts are blue?"

A look of sorrow passes over his still-youthful features, and Tanya Jo wishes she'd kept her fat mouth shut.

"Never mind," she mutters, but Mr. Lloyd gives her a small, sad smile.

"Blue was my wife's favorite color," he says softly.

_Was? Oh, jeez._

"Oh, Mr. Lloyd, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Tanya Jo," he says, using her first name for once. "Your question was certainly a logical one."

"I only asked 'cause the other kids make fun of you, an' I don't like it."

"Make fun of me how?" her teacher asks, and again Tanya Jo feels shame at her reckless tongue.

"They call you _Bloyd_ behind your back."

Mr. Lloyd shocks her by laughing, and her eyes narrow.

"How come that's so funny?"

"It's not, except that I once taught inner-city kids in Chicago. What I heard from them on a daily basis would shock you."

"I can imagine. But you should say something so _these_ kids will understand."

"I can't, not yet. Her loss is too new."

"Then let me," she offers impulsively. "I can make like it's a book report or something, tell 'em things about your wife, then say who she really was."

He studies her a long time, then nods. "I'd like that," he says at last, then offers her his arm. "Now come on, I'll drop you off home, and tell you about Jamie along the way."

"That'll work." She takes his arm, and they head for the parking lot.

* * *

Now Tanya Jo stands in front of the class, hoping she can justify the trust Mr. Lloyd has bestowed upon her.

_Hoping she can do right by Jamie Lloyd, a woman she'd never met but knows instinctively she would have liked._

She glances at Mr. Lloyd. "You sure you're okay with this?"

"Absolutely."

_Okay, then._

She turns back toward her classmates, takes a deep breath, and begins:

"Howdy, y'all...I already done my Hester Prynne story, so this here is somethin' different. The gal in this story is named Jamie, an' she was born a mountain girl from right here in Rutledge, a girl who liked flowers and dogs and catchin' trout of an afternoon."

She pauses to look at her notes, and a boy in the back row – Timmy-something - calls out, "This a true story, Tanya Jo, or a made-up one?"

"A true one. Now hush an' lemme tell it, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Timmy says with a grin, and she continues.

"So anyways, come her sixteenth year Jamie married her childhood sweetheart an' they moved up to Chicago so's he could find decent work."

"Did he?" a girl named Kelsey Tucker – no relation – asks her. "My cousin says jobs is scarce up there, too."

Tanya Jo nods. "He got him a job teachin' school, while Jamie stayed home to raise their babies, an' ten years went by like nothin'."

Here she stops, this is the hardest part, and she fights the urge to turn tail and run from the room.

And now Kelsey, a bit more perceptive than the others, asks softly, "What messed it up?"

Tanya Jo finds herself crying and unable to answer, so Mr. Lloyd rescues her.

"It was a drive-by," he says quietly. "A group of kids in a car shooting at some other kids on the sidewalk. Jamie was shot shielding our daughters from the bullets." Dead silence greets this, and almost to himself he adds, "Her favorite color was blue."

"Oh, God," Kelsey whispers, and as Tanya Jo passes her to get to her own desk, the other girl stands and pulls her into a teary hug.

* * *

When she comes into English the next day, half the class is wearing blue button-down shirts, the next day they all are, and on the third day Mr. Lloyd comes in carrying a large cardboard carton.

And wearing a _white_ shirt.

"What's in the box?" Tanya Jo wants to know.

He smiles at her. " I wanted to reward you all for your compassion regarding Jamie, so I had these made."

And with that he opens the box and pulls out a blue t-shirt with gold lettering, and when Tanya Jo and Kelsey see the words spelled across the front they grin at each other.

_Bloyd's Brigade._

Epilogue

Blaine, Tennessee

She steps out of the bathtub, her long brown hair damp and smelling of berries, and wraps herself in a towel that just barely covers the parts of her it's supposed to. She pauses briefly in the middle of her new attic bedroom to survey her domain.

There's a bed – _well, of course –_ and a small dresser, a desk with her computer and printer on it, and the metal cabinet from Jessup Lannister.

No T.V. – _sigh –_ 'cause they only have one and it's downstairs, but Pa had bought her a bookcase for her novels and CDs, and that right there made up for a lot.

Next to her bed is a nightstand holding her alarm clock and mini-stereo, and there in the corner where the pipes come up through the floor sits the old claw-foot tub she'd just soaked in.

Pa says it's indecent, a girl her age bathing out in the open like that, but he never comes up here and Tanya Jo no longer cares what he thinks of her.

 _You came back for him, too,_ the meddling little voice in her head reminds her. _Not just for the boys._

It'd been a touchy thing, whether or not she would return from Colorado at all, but in the end Tanya Jo decided her brothers – and yeah, Pa too – needed her more than she needed to be gone.

And so she'd come back.

Oh, sure, she an' Pa still fuss at each other now and again, mostly about her sass and skimpy attire, but he's drinking less and no longer so hateful, and she reckons their fresh start here in Blaine hasn't hurt none.

Plus, her favorite cousin Holly lives in Blaine, so now they'll be able to hang out more.

Her glance returns to the bookcase. She loves to read, a habit Mama had always encouraged but one that Pa had no patience for.

"Why lollygag with a book when you can be doin' somethin' useful?" is how he always puts it.

"Yeah, whatever," is how she always replies, rolling her eyes and burying her nose back in whatever book she was lollygagging with when he'd so rudely interrupted her.

But he _had_ bought her the bookcase, and helped her organize her collection of novels, and once she'd asked him how come.

Pa took a long time answering, but when he did his reply almost made her cry.

"'Cause if readin' them books of yours makes you happy, an' bein' happy keeps you from runnin' off on me again, then I reckon I done a good thing."

_Oh, Pa._

And now, with her bare feet making wet footprints on the rough wooden floor, Tanya Jo crosses to her bed and perches on the edge. Letting the towel fall, she pulls on her clean undies and slips back into the nightgown she'd slept in. Last of all she reties the string with her three keys on it around her neck.

_House key, attic key, and the lone key for her cabinet, in which her short-barreled Winchester and boxes of ammo are locked to keep the boys from finding them, or Pa from stealing them._

Only then does she take up her brush from the nightstand and lean forward, feeling the ends of her hair tickle her toes as she brushes out the tangles.

100 strokes, just like Mama showed her, and _her_ mama before her.

Now she tosses the brush down on the bed and goes to stand before the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door, then studies herself through the hair falling half over her blue eyes.

* * *

_She'd started wearing her hair that way back in June, when she'd just turned fifteen and Pa had blacked her eye. And after her face healed, she decided she rather liked looking at the world through her bangs._

_Then Josh Stark told her she looked hot with her hair like that, and who was she to argue?_

_She'd gone to Richland Creek to skinny-dip and sunbathe, and it wasn't until she'd stripped down to her panties – one of her newer ones, thank God - that she'd heard a familiar voice._

" _Lookin' good, Tanya Jo!"_

_She looked up sharply to see Milt Stark's boy standing there, staring at her tits – as he had the day they'd met – but this time he's as naked as the day he was born._

" _What are you doing here?" she'd demanded, hands on hips and staring some her ownself._

 _As the only girl in a house with two unruly boys in it (three if you count Pa), she's seen examples of the male anatomy before, but never one that was so obviously happy to see_ her _._

" _Goin' for a swim, same as you." His grin was a challenge, and she accepted it readily._

" _Well, come on then," she said, grabbing him – by the hand, thank you – and pulling him into the creek with her._

_And then she kissed him._

_He'd kissed her back, his tongue in her mouth and his hands caressing her to distraction. Then they swam, and kissed some more, and lay on the bank in each other's arms, sharing dreams and making promises she wonders now if they'll ever keep._

_But Tanya Jo lost her heart that day, if not her virginity, and even the virginity went soon after, followed by an anxious month that ended when she finally got her next period._

* * *

The memory of the summer just past, and her wanton behavior in general, still makes her blush.

She turns away from her reflection, and there's Mama's picture looking at her from atop the dresser.

"Oh hush, Mama," she mutters, but Mama's picture – as it always does when Tanya Jo talks to it – just smiles serenely from its frame and doesn't say a word.

_Mama, I miss you._

With a sigh and one last look in the mirror, Tanya Jo pads over to her bed and sits again, promising herself to call Josh later and bribe him to come see her.

She knows just what she'll offer him, and the thought of _that_ makes her shiver down to her toes.

Then she smells it, the unmistakable aroma of someone scorching bacon, and she quickly banishes Josh Stark from her overheated brain.

_Well almost, anyway._

"Y'all better not be burnin' up my kitchen!" she hollers, then heads for the stairs.

_She's where she belongs, taking care of those she loves, and for Tanya Jo that is all she could ask for._

THE END


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